This invention relates to maintenance operations of aircraft and more particularly to a method and a device for accessing maintenance functions of an aircraft from a mobile maintenance terminal. Access to these functions varies according to the situation of the aircraft (in operation or at its base).
In order to optimize the reliability of aircraft and to increase their profitability, maintenance operations frequently are implemented between flight phases. They may or may not be carried out when the aircraft is at its base.
In general, for maintenance operators such operations consist, for example, in verifying the hardware and software configuration of the systems of the aircraft, analyzing the data stored during the flight (ongoing monitoring), modifying certain parameters of the aircraft or certain software data, launching test software applications and/or checking the change of software configuration following a downloading operation.
The analyzed data often originate from sensors and are stored in a central diagnostic and storage device accessible through a man-machine interface of MCDU (abbreviation for Multi-Control Display Unit in English terminology) or OMT (abbreviation for Onboard Maintenance Terminal in English terminology) type. This interface, through which interactive operations may be launched, makes it possible to analyze stored data, access the parameters of the aircraft and more generally to execute test and maintenance functions.
Access to the maintenance systems of aircraft generally is limited to on-board fixed physical stations in the cockpit. Thus, when the aircraft is on the ground, a maintenance operator may board the aircraft in order to access and analyze the stored data, if need be modify the parameters of the aircraft, and launch test applications.
Alternatively, in order to meet a growing demand of the airline companies to reduce the time of maintenance operations, mobile maintenance terminals are used. The latter, the function of which is similar to the interfaces of MCDU or OMT type, are connected to the central diagnostic and storage device through connection plugs connected to the network of the aircraft.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary aircraft 100 comprising a central diagnostic and storage device 105. This device is accessible, via an internal communication network (not shown), at a maintenance terminal 110, fixed or mobile. The mobile maintenance terminals generally are called PMAT (acronym for Portable Maintenance Access Terminal in English terminology).
Device 105 is connected to all the systems of the aircraft generating maintenance messages, for example to sensors (not shown) for monitoring the engines and the actuators for the landing gears and control surfaces.
In this way, when aircraft 100 is on the ground, with the aid of terminal 110 a maintenance operator may analyze the flight data of the aircraft and modify the parameters thereof.
Furthermore, the airline companies operating these aircraft generally have maintenance information systems on the ground, also called MIS (acronym for Maintenance Information System in English terminology), in order to ensure the tracking of the state of their fleet of aircraft. These information systems are operated in particular by maintenance control centers, also called MCC (abbreviation for Maintenance Control Center in English terminology), and maintenance operators of the airline company.
As illustrated on FIG. 1, data may be transmitted directly from an aircraft 100 to a maintenance information system of an airline company 115, for example through an IP (abbreviation for Internet Protocol in English terminology) type link. These data may be processed by the maintenance information systems for tracking the state of the fleet of aircraft. Moreover, these data make it possible to build up the experience acquired during the operation of the aircraft and thus optimize maintenance operations.
In this way, although maintenance operations may be executed from a mobile maintenance terminal and maintenance data originating from the aircraft may be used to optimize the maintenance operations, there nonetheless is a need to improve them.
The invention makes it possible to resolve at least one of the problems set forth above.